Opinion: Amherst for Palestine Condemns the U.S.-Israeli War on Iran, Israel’s Wars on Lebanon and Palestine, and U.S. Militarism at Home and Abroad 

On February 28th, 2026, in the midst of ongoing diplomatic negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, the United States and Israel launched a war on Iran with coordinated airstrikes on cities across the country. They have continued to bombard the country with increasing intensity, striking military installations, essential infrastructure, and oil depots that have unleashed thick clouds of toxic smoke over Tehran and beyond. They have also targeted apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, courthouses, sports stadiums and world heritage sites, raining death and destruction on Iranian civilians.

On Day 1, in a series of decapitation strikes, Israel assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, along with several high-level officials and members of his family. That same day, the U.S. struck a girl’s school in Southern Iran, killing at least 170 people, most of them children. By March 10, at least 4,300 Iranians, including 390 civilians, had been killed and many more injured and displaced, in a war that was unprovoked.

The war has not been confined to Iran. On Day 2, Israel recommenced a major offensive against Lebanon. As of March 11, 634 Lebanese people have been killed, many more wounded, and more than 800,000 people have been forced to flee their homes under Israeli bombings and evacuation orders. 

On Day 3, Iran began to launch retaliatory strikes, both in Israel and in several Gulf States that host U.S. military bases, including energy infrastructure and oil tankers attempting to navigate through the Strait of Hormuz. With each passing day the war has escalated, drawing in more and more countries, bringing us all to the brink of a world war, and raising the almost unthinkable specter of Israeli or U.S use of nuclear weapons. Israel, it should be remembered, not only has a large supply of nuclear weapons, but, unlike Iran, has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And of course the United States is the only nation ever to have used a nuclear weapon on a human population. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using this war on Iran, the second in the span of a year, to gain dominance in the entire region, seeking to realize his dream of a Greater Israel. In the fog of war, Israel is simultaneously carrying out a full-scale assault on Lebanon and continuing its siege of Gaza and takeover of the West Bank while the U.S. is bombing Iran. Heavily supported by U.S. funding and weapons, the Israeli military’s modus operandi of atrocities and mass destruction in Gaza has become the template for its assault on Lebanon and the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran.

Amherst for Palestine condemns the Trump administration’s launch of an unjustified and unauthorized war that is killing Americans and plunging the national and global economy into chaos. The administration has yet to present a coherent or convincing case for it to the American people, most of whom oppose it, or to seek authorization from Congress. As of March 11th, according to the Pentagon, 7 U.S. service members have been killed and 140 wounded, 

We call for an immediate end to this war. We mourn the wanton destruction of the lives, homes, livelihoods, and cultural treasures of the Iranian people as well as the death and destruction being rained upon all parties involved. We are alarmed by the rapidly escalating violence in the region and the mounting threat of a world war. 

We condemn the assassinations of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Iranian government officials, and the open threat to assassinate his elected successor. Even Iranians who strongly oppose their repressive rulers do not want “freedom” through regime change violently imposed upon their sovereign nation by hostile foreign powers.

Locally, we extend our solidarity and support to our Iranian, Lebanese, and Palestinian neighbors as well as all Muslims, Muslim Americans, and people of West Asian origin. 

Stop funding Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people! In 2026 alone, the Trump administration has already sent $3.3 billion in Congressionally approved military aid to Israel and additionally over $7 billion more in weapons, by-passing Congress altogether. Meanwhile the Israeli military has continued to kill and displace Palestinians daily, both in Gaza and the West Bank, with 649 Palestinians killed since the so-called ceasefire on October 10, 2025 and more than 72,000 killed since October 7, 2024. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) also continue to block desperately needed humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. 

Stop waging war and help the most vulnerable, at home and abroad! At the Pentagon’s estimate, the war on Iran is costing U.S. taxpayers nearly $1 billion per day, even as the administration continues to cut life-saving benefits to Americans and eliminate life-saving aid programs around the world. 

Protect our democratic rights and freedoms! Just as the Trump administration is violating international law in its kidnappings, extrajudicial killings, airstrikes, and blockades in numerous nations and international waters, it is violating U.S. state and federal law domestically.  It is terrorizing immigrants and refugees, killing peaceful protestors, seeking to silence free speech, control the media, and threaten democratic, civil, and human rights, including basic freedoms protected in the U.S. Constitution.

While we still can, we call on the people of the United States to take every opportunity to speak out urgently against these wars—on Iran, on Palestine, on Lebanon, and on ourselves.